A River
by Lev
Summary: [shounen ai, fluff] BanGinji. Ban isn't in denial. Of course not. And Ginji is certainly not completely irresistable.


[shounen ai, fluff] Ban+Ginji. Ban isn't in denial. Of course not. And Ginji is certainly not completely irresistable.

Written: 11.16.03  
Revised: 11.16.03  
Pairing: Ban + Ginji  
Warnings: shounen ai, fluff  
Spoilers: Um, none really.

****

A River by Lev

Ban yawned, staring around at the stainless steel walls. Hopefully Ginji would come soon, this was getting rather boring.

Hevn had brought them a job that she claimed would be "easy." It had started out that way, but then the building they were infiltrating had had some... unexpected defenses. Namely, sleeping gas that came out of vents in the ceiling. Sleeping gas. And stainless steel holding cells. Ban had made a sizable dent in the "door" wall, but nothing that was going to get him out. Granted, it had relieved a bit of his frustration at being knocked out by _sleeping gas_ of all things, but he vowed he was going to find whoever had designed the system and give them a nice little dream. He knew Ginji hadn't been captured along with him--_knew_ he stressed again in his mind, not _hoped_--so he'd probably come to bail his partner out eventually.

Ban leaned back against the wall and started whistling some song Ginji had made him listen to a few days ago. Nothing to do but wait.

And wait.

...And wait.

Where the hell was Ginji?

Then the lights went out, so Ban was sitting in a pitch-black stainless steel box. At least he knew Ginji hadn't been captured--of course, he'd known that already. He hadn't been worrying about Ginji at all. Really.

He continued whistling.

The screech of metal on metal roused him from the half-doze he'd fallen into, and he cracked one eye open to see a tiny shaft of sunlight filtering in through a slit between the door and wall.

"Ginji?" he called. "What the hell took you so long? Hevn should have told us more about this place's defenses. Sleeping gas," he grumbled to himself, "fucking sleeping gas."

"Ban-chan!" The crack widened considerably and some of the sunlight was blocked, presumably from Ginji peering into the room. "Ban-chan!" There was a huge wrenching sound and then Ginji stumbled into the cell and practically collapsed onto his partner, throwing his arms around Ban and squeezing him until he could hardly breathe, all the while chanting Ban's name. Ban whacked him on the head for being so late (the only effect it had was a slight change in the rhythm of the chanting), then sighed and tried to act nonchalant, because of course he wasn't just as glad to see Ginji. Because he hadn't been worried about him. Not at all.

After a few moments, Ban wrapped his arms around Ginji in return, causing the blond to squirm a little and hug Ban even tighter.

"Did you get what we came for?" Ban asked, absent-mindedly stroking Ginji's hair.

Ginji sat back a little and patted a pocket on his vest. "Yeah. Took me a long time to find it, though, and then I had to find you, and then I had to stun ten security guards on the way down here, and Ban-chan and I'm sorry I took so long and I'm so glad you're all right!"

Ban smirked. "I can tell. Now let's get out of here before they decide to use that gas again. Cowards," he muttered.

Ginji nodded and jumped up, offering his hand to Ban. As they made their way back through the compound (Ginji, miraculously, knew where they were going) he refused to let go. Ban decided to just let it be, because he knew how Ginji got when they were separated for long periods of time. And of course that was the only reason, because there was no way that Ban got rather... jittery when they were apart, too. Of course he didn't.

In the main entrance to the building, Ban paused and looked around, spotting a security camera. Quite calmly he walked over to it, dragging Ginji with him. He stared into it for a few seconds, and then--contact. Whoever was at the other end would have a nice dream now, which mollified Ban slightly. Sleeping gas, of all things...

When they got in the car, Ginji fell asleep, head resting on Ban's shoulder, and he didn't stir until they got back to the Honky Tonk. Ban gently shook his partner awake, and they went in to return their client's stolen property.

They slid into the booth where their client was waiting and sat there staring at each other for a few seconds. Then Ban unsubtly elbowed Ginji in the side. The blond started, then realized he was the one carrying the item they'd been sent to retrieve. He fished around in all his vest pockets, trying to find it, completely oblivious to Ban growing more and more irritated and their client becoming more and more nervous.

"Aha! Here you go, Watanashi-san," Ginji grinned charmingly, passing the plain black disk across the table.

"Thank you, thank you! Here--" their client shoved an envelope at Ginji, which Ban promptly snatched away from him. "Thank you! My company is saved!" Ban nodded absent-mindedly, already opening the envelope.

"Thanks for your business!" Ban called over his shoulder as Ginji ushered their client out of the Honky Tonk, counting and re-counting the bills, his eyes glinting with delight. A million and a half yen... They could afford rent for another couple months, and get real food, and maybe he and Ginji could do something fun, like go to the beach, or the movies, or anything else that caught Ginji's interest.

"Ban-chaaaan?"

Re-counting the bills one last time, Ban glanced up at his partner. "Hm?"

"I'm tired. Can we go home?"

"Sure, Ginji." He carefully tucked the money away and stood up, this time offering Ginji his hand. Ginji had taken off his gloves at some point, and his hand was warm. Which, of course, Ban only noticed because his hand was cold, not because he just liked the feeling. That definitely wasn't the reason.

They stopped off and grabbed dinner at a place Ginji spotted, then drove to the apartment, where Ban made sure to park legally. He didn't particularly want to lose some of their (okay, it was mostly Ginji's this time around) hard-earned yen to yet another parking ticket.

Ginji could barely keep his eyes open as they climbed the stairs to their apartment, leaning heavily on Ban. Even so, he followed Ban into their tiny living room/kitchen and sat next to him on their horribly beat-up couch as Ban checked the news.

Ban shook him awake a few minutes later, gaze still glued to the tiny TV. "Ginji."

He yawned. "Ban-chan?"

"Ten guards, hm?" He gestured to the screen, where the building that they had broken into was pictured, with at least fifty very confused, slightly scorched-looking security guards milling about the grounds.

"...um. Eheheh. Ten, fifty..."

Ban shook his head and flipped the TV off, hitting Ginji on the head lightly. "You should go to bed," he said, getting up himself. It was hot out, so he stripped down to just his boxers and crawled into his bed, carefully setting his glasses on the cardboard box that served as a nightstand. He blinked when he felt another weight settle next to him, and then a blond-haired head was resting on the pillow inches away from his, an arm worming its way over his chest.

"...Ginji?"

"Nn?"

"...Your bed is over there."

"Nn."

Well, Ginji had obviously made himself comfortable. It would really be a shame to make him move now, especially since he was so worn out. Fifty guards... Ban shook his head, then rolled onto his side to face his partner, who looked very... innocent.

Before he realized what he was doing, he leaned over a little and kissed Ginji lightly on the lips. Brown eyes blinked open, and Ban almost laughed at the expression on his face--somewhere between being told Christmas was coming early and total shock. "Ban-chan? What--mmph." 

And of course he wasn't doing it again because it had felt good. That absolutely wasn't the reason the second time, or the third, or the fourth... Besides, Ginji certainly wasn't complaining.

---

Hopefully Ban isn't as OOC now. ^^; I attempted to make him crankier.


End file.
